Shore Leave
by Rhadeya
Summary: What happens when Buffer gets a few days shore leave...? Rating will go up in later chapters, title may change : Please R&R
1. Nightmares

Author's Note: I don't own it, if I did Buffer would have the girl of his dreams and ET would still be with us! Written for fun, not for profit so please don't sue

This is just to set the scene for things to come

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><p>Darkness...<p>

The musty smell of freshly disturbed earth and faint scent of broken grass stems...

The deep rumble of oil coursing through underground pipes, racing towards a hidden, long disused tank...

The ache of his muscles as he climbed out of the grave he'd been forced to dig... his own grave, both terrifying and hypnotically inviting...

The weight of the oil pressing around him, pushing him under its surface and forcing its way into his nose and mouth... drowning him... suffocating him...

Buffer jerked awake, his t-shirt and shorts soaked with sweat, his breathing laboured as he struggled to pull himself back from his nightmares. He concentrated on his breathing, fighting to get it under control, and with it attempt to slow the pounding of his heart. While he was at sea, he managed to keep busy enough that when he slept, he didn't dream, but that all changed during down time. Every time the crew of the boat or ship he was on got shore leave, the nightmares started again in earnest. He seemed to be unable to block out the images that came into his head, the smells and sounds of those times overwhelming him in his sleep and plaguing his waking hours.

He shook his head and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of his rack and jumping lightly to the mildly cold deck. It still felt strange to him that he was alone in the cabin on this tour, at least for the time being, as they were not at full personnel capacity. Padding silently to the small bathroom, he splashed cold water onto his face and made an extra effort to push back the memories which, sometimes, threatened to overwhelm him. Knowing he would not now be able to get any more sleep, and that he wasn't sure on watch for another two hours, he quickly dressed and headed up onto deck to do a simple workout. The physical exertion always helped Buffer take his mind off the past and allow him to concentrate on the present, although he never tended to think of the future anymore.

The chill of the early morning air sent a shiver down his spine and raised goosebumps on his bare arms as he stepped out onto the empty deck. He knew the watch would have seen him as he paused by the railings, taking deep breaths and filling his lungs with the sweet tang of salty air. With one last deep breath he started his workout, chasing his demons away for a few more hours, unaware he was being watched from shadows.

"So Buff, you coming to the pub tonight?" Swain asked, placing his hand on his friend's arm to stop his advance down the corridor.  
>"Yeah Swaino, I think I will," Pete confirmed, smiling his usual half smile and nodding slowly. A night out was something he looked forward to when they hit shore, and some female company, however fleeting, was always a welcome distraction.<br>"We're hitting Jester tonight," Swain told him, trying to hide his smirk as he looked at Pete with one eyebrow raised.  
>"The bar on the terrace," the two friends said together, laughing. A long standing joke, the bar on the upper terrace at the pub Jester was a place where everyone had managed to pull in the past, everyone except Buffer. He laughed along with his friend, but deep down, Buffer was having the last laugh as he had never gone there to pull and had turned down several advances, preferring to simply watch and study the people who went there.<br>"See you there at 8pm?" Swain asked, pausing long enough to see Buffer nod, before he continued on his way.

Buffer slung his bag over his shoulder and disembarked the HMAS Hammersely, saluting the pennant as he strode down the gang plank and jumped down onto the dock. He waved to his crew mates, acknowledging the shouts about meeting at the pub that evening, and headed towards the main gates where he could get a taxi home. Although he dreaded it, he knew that when he got home he would have to try and get a few hours sleep before he went out or he'd never be able to last the night. The nightmares would haunt him, he knew, but at least if he drank enough later, he'd pass out and not remember if he dreamt or not.

With that thought in mind, he headed towards home...


	2. Jester Bar

**Author's Note**: _This is set between seasons 4 & 5 and does not include anything which happens during the final season (as I've not seen it yet). I am aware of things that happened during season 5 but this story will not be going that far ahead... yet... _

_Please let me know thoughts as to whether I should continue..._

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><p>Peter "Buffer" Tomaszewski cried out as he woke from another nightmare, to find he had wrapped his sheet around his arm, effectively trapping himself and temporarily cutting off the blood supply to his left hand. A groggy glance at the neon green numbers on the bedside clock told him that he had been asleep for 3 hours, and that it was time to get up and start getting ready to go out. Untangling his arm from the damp sheet, he dragged his tired body out of bed and stumbled down the hall towards the bathroom, where he proceeded to run himself a nice hot shower. Hands pressed flat against the cold tiles, he let the hot water cascade over him and closed his eyes, the heat helping to soothe his aches and work out the kinks and knots in his muscles. He remained there, relaxing and revelling in the caress of the water, for several minutes before taking a deep breath and pushing himself away from the wall. He washed quickly, making sure he shaved off the day old stubble, and grabbed a bite to eat as he got dressed. He knew he'd probably end up having something at Jester later, something fatty that he'd have to spend the rest of his shore leave working off, but he needed a base for his planned heavy drinking session. He brushed his teeth and rinsed with a new mouth wash he had picked up earlier in the day, deciding he liked the strong minty taste, then grabbed his wallet and keys. Shoving bits and pieces into the pockets of his shorts, he drew in several deep breaths and allowed the mask of "Buffer" to envelope him, tucking the damaged psyche of 'Pete' safely away and becoming the confident and slightly brash sailor his friends knew and loved. With a quick look in the mirror, his lips quirked into a lopsided grin and he headed out the door towards the pub, whistling a jaunty but off key tune.<p>

As soon as he entered the bar "Jester", Buffer heard rather than saw his crew mates; in particular he could clearly make out Spider and 2Dads having a friendly argument about women, much to the obvious amusement of the women sat at the table. He rounded a corner and saw them all gathered at the large corner table/booth that they tended to occupy whenever they visited this pub, which was on a very regular basis. Although not currently serving on the Hammersely crew, Nikki "Nav" Caetano, Rebecca "Bomber" Brown and Billy "Spider" Webb were all in town and had jumped at the chance to join them for a catch up. The only faces missing were the new bosun "Dutchy" and Josh "ET" Holiday; the former was injured, his injury being the reason Buffer had been temporarily reassigned to Hammersely, and the latter had lost his life over two years before, shortly after proposing to Nikki and telling her he was leaving the Navy to be with her. A lump formed in his throat as Buffer thought of ET, the strong words they had had regarding Nikki, whom both men had been in love with at the time. In some ways, he could never forgive ET for the pain that Nikki had gone through after his death, and the pain she had carried with her each and every day since. But in other ways, he knew that ET had loved Nikki with all his heart and would have done anything for her, and she for him. It was a feeling that Buffer had yet to experience to the same extent that the young lovers had, and it made him feel angry again that their time together had been cut tragically short. Shaking his head to dispel sad thoughts, he smiled his usual lopsided grin and headed to the table, sliding into an empty seat beside Nikki and Kate McGreggor, his former (and temporarily current) XO. As he greeted his friends, he noticed how close together RO and Bomber were, their fingertips practically touching on the seat between them. He also knew that 2Dads would already have noticed, and it perhaps explained why he was having such a heated argument with Spider. Swain sat between Kate and RO and was chatting away to Nikki about what she had been missing on their old ship during the months since she had been assigned a shore posting. To Buffer, it seemed as though nothing had changed since he left, that they were all one big happy family again.

Two hours passed swiftly, taken up with some interesting games of pool and a lot of both drinking and talking as the crew caught up on everything that had happened to each other during the time they had been apart. Jokes were made, and a few wolf-whistles sounded, when a group of women passed by their table on their way out onto the terrace and RO went as white as a sheet. Buffer recalled the look on the younger man's face as he stared at the women as they passed, looking for all the world as if he'd seen a ghost. When Nikki had made a comment about it, all RO had said was that one of the group looked like someone he had once known and refused to elaborate, no matter how hard the others pressed. Pete looked out at the empty chairs placed around the small bar at the end of the terrace outside with something akin to longing, the strain of keeping up the "happy-go-lucky Buffer" appearance beginning to get a little too much for him.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna head out onto the terrace for a bit," he told the group, knowing they'd be ok with him leaving them for a while.  
>"Going to try your luck Buffer?" Swain asked, raising an eyebrow and leering drunkenly at his friend.<br>"Yeah, why not?" Pete replied, seeing the look on Kate's face as he did so. He was well aware of the fact that she knew the reason he was absenting himself for a while, to get himself under control and be able to keep up the pretence that he was totally ok.  
>"Go get 'em Buff," Bomber joined in, her eyes telling him she too had some understanding of his situation.<br>"Find a tasty one mate," Charge joked, while the younger men at the table made several comments that were heavily laced with sexual innuendo. Pete smiled at them, grabbing his half empty pint glass and walking out onto the terrace. He breathed deeply several times, calming his frayed nerves as he slipped into a seat at one end of the small bar and nodding his thanks to the barman who silently refilled his glass once he'd emptied it. He allowed the gentle breeze to carry away his demons for the moment, glad to be alive, and enjoyed the quieter atmosphere which now surrounded him.


	3. The Night Before

Author's Note: Having to use . as paragraph breaks due to FFnet's funky formatting

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><p>The outside bar on the upper terrace at Jester was a place where Buffer had always enjoyed 'people watching', and tonight was no different. A full moon overhead meant the usually colourful terrace now shimmered in a thousand shades of silver, leaching all colour from everything the pale rays touched. Buffer could hear the sounds of his crewmates enjoying themselves coming from the building behind him but made no move to rejoin them. While he had only been back on the HMAS Hammersley for three weeks, it felt as if he had never been away and neither he nor his friends felt the need to be in each other's pockets. He needed his space, to try and combat the nightmares that plagued him, and they cared for him enough to let him be alone for a while.<p>

.

The past year had been difficult for Buffer; being posted away from the people he considered his family was almost as painful as losing his mum had been and he'd had a hard time adjusting to a new boat and crew. The only lifeline he'd had was that for several months he'd had a shore posting which meant he had been able to regularly see Nikki Caetano. Spending time together had made him realise that while he was still attracted to her, as he was towards Lt. McGregor, he would never again risk his friendship by trying to make their relationship something it was never going to be. Once he had accepted that fact, his time spent with Nikki had been much more relaxed, and had allowed him to help her start the healing process she needed, to say goodbye to ET and move on with her life.

.

He knew his friends were probably cracking jokes about the fact that he'd almost certainly end up going home alone again, and the thought brought a smile to his lips as he wondered how long it would be before one of them came out to get a drink and unobtrusively 'check' on him. A burst of raucous laughter broke the silence of the night and pulled Buffer from his reverie. He looked in the direction that the laughter had come from and saw a group of women sitting around a table on the other end of the terrace. Bottles and glasses littered the top of the table and the scantily clad women around it seemed to be imbibing the alcohol with abandon, with the exception of one petite brunette at the end of the table. While not beautiful in the classical sense, she was still a strikingly attractive woman and something about her made Buffer unable to look away. His mother had been fond of the saying _"an old soul looking out of young eyes"_, which had made no sense to him until now. As the woman turned her head in his direction and their eyes met, a shiver ran down his spine as he finally understood what his mum had meant. A slight tilt of her head made him realise that he was staring, and he reluctantly dragged his gaze away from her mesmerising, ocean blue eyes.

.

A movement, caught from the corner of his eye, caused Pete to swivel slightly on his barstool, just in time to see the mysterious brunette walking towards the bar. Unlike the women he worked with, who were toned and slender, the woman walking towards him was far more voluptuous. With a classically hourglass figure, she reminded him a little of Marilyn Monroe from the old movies that his mother used to watch. From the little flecks of silver in her hair he estimated her to be in her thirties and he noted that while she had on a little lipstick and eye shadow, she wore no other makeup. Several small scars were visible on her face as she drew nearer to him, but she made no attempt to hide them, as if she was proud of them and they caused her no embarrassment. Unlike her friends at the table, she seemed to make no attempt to be something she wasn't by covering physical flaws and it was something he found intriguing and strangely sexy.

She gave him a warm smile as she reached the bar and ordered several more bottles of wine for her friends, as well as a large glass of orange juice for herself. Although she spoke quite softly, Buffer's excellent hearing made it easy for him to pick out her voice from the din around them and he was slightly startled to hear her accent was British. It made him feel a little sad because, although he was home and back with his friends, he had enjoyed the months he had spent with the British Navy on their exchange program, working on their patrol boats around the UK. While he was now back where he felt he belonged, her accent caused him a tinge of something akin to homesickness as he recalled the friends he had made during his stay.

.

Buffer's reminiscing was rudely interrupted by a rather drunk fellow patron who bumped into him as he stumbled to the bar, where he proceeded to loudly ask for another pint in a heavily slurred voice. The barman, Danny, shot Buffer a look that warned him to be ready for trouble and he shifted in his seat slightly, ready to help out if needed. As a regular at the bar, he and the rest of the crew often helped out the bouncers if trouble kicked off, as they were as adverse to the disruption as the staff were.

Buffer's phone vibrated in his pocket, to tell him he had a message, but he ignored it as he kept his attention on the two people near him. The drunk suddenly spotted the brunette at the bar, who was by now loading bottles of wine onto a tray, and proceeded to demand that she give him her phone number. The woman ignored his advances and picked up her tray, then stepped away from the bar and went to walk back to her friends. The drunk, however, was not about to be ignored and roughly grabbed her arm, causing her to drop the tray and its contents. The bottles and glass shattered as they hit the floor, sending shards of razor sharp glass flying in all directions. Being so close to the glass as it shattered, several pieces cut the brunette's legs and she cried out in pain, yanking herself free from the drunk's grasp, and leaning heavily against the metal railing. Mick and Jamie, the two bouncers who usually took care of the terrace, had come out as soon as they heard the glass break, and had the drunk under control. Seeing they had no need of his assistance, Buffer quickly made his way over to the injured woman and assessed the damage. The cuts appeared to be fairly shallow and clean of any bits of glass so he grabbed a couple of towels and a bottle of water from behind the bar and knelt down next to the shaken woman.

"We need to wash these and get them bandaged, OK?" he told her, pouring some of the water over the cuts as soon as she nodded her agreement. He saw Danny head into the main bar and guessed he was probably going to get Swain to have a look at her injuries.

"I'll be OK, I just need to get home," the woman sighed, her voice tinged with pain and disgust, although Pete knew it wasn't directed at him.

"Pete, Swain and the rest of the guys have already gone mate," Danny told him, appearing silently at his shoulder.

"Give me the bandages please," the woman requested, a slight smile on her face. Danny handed over the items wordlessly, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Buffer with a question in his eyes.

"Don't you think you should have them looked at by a doctor?" Buffer wanted to know, his concern evident.

"Don't worry, I used to be a paramedic, I know what I'm doing." She winked, deftly wiping the cuts with antiseptic wipes and applying the bandages. Buffer silently admitted to himself that she certainly appeared to know what she was doing, and the thought made him feel a little warmer inside.

"By the way, I'm Pete," he introduced himself, belatedly recalling he hadn't actually done that when he'd leapt up to help.

"Carisha," she supplied, finishing off the last bandage and gripping the rail beside her in an attempt to get up.

.

Buffer grabbed her arm to support her as she began to fall, her legs not entirely able to support her just yet. She smiled her thanks, making his heart partially miss a beat, but the smile slipped away as soon as she looked over at her friends. Despite the commotion, not one of the other women Carisha was with had bothered to come and see if she was alright, and that angered Buffer.

"Shall I take you home?" he asked, realising as soon as the words were out of his mouth how bad the sentence sounded.

"Well, if you put it that way..." she laughed, her blue eyes twinkling with delight as he blushed.

"I didn't mean..." he started, feeling unusually tongue-tied. While he had only meant to suggest that, given her injuries, he help her to get to _her_ home, the innuendo of her reply made him realise that he would not be adverse to anything happening between them.

"I know what you meant, Pete. As my colleagues are obviously not going to help, it would be churlish of me to reject an offer of assistance," she told him, her smile lighting up her face and making his insides tie themselves in knots. "Especially as that drunken idiot might still be about," she added, a slight frown creasing her brow.

"There's a set of stairs here that lead down to the street, right by the cabs, so you don't have to walk past the whole bar." He grinned, sweeping her up into his arms before she had time to protest and carrying her towards the steps.

"I can walk, you know," she declared, pursing her lips in mock annoyance.

"Better safe than sorry," came Buffer's reply, his tone innocent.

.

Neither was about to admit to the other just yet that they rather liked the current close proximity. Buffer wasted no time finding a cab, helping her into it before he slid into the seat beside her. Carisha gave the driver her address and made no comment about Buffer accompanying her, silently hoping she could get him to carry her inside when they got to her house, so that she would have the perfect opening to ask him if he wanted to stay for coffee...


	4. The Morning After

A single shaft of sunlight, filtering in through a small gap in the bedroom curtains, gave a gently warm caress against Pete's face, slowly rousing him from a deep sleep. As his senses started to waken, he caught the whiff of bacon and his stomach let him know just how hungry he was. He stretched languorously, revelling in the freedom of shore leave and not having to hurry out of bed. As he was stretching, his sleep softened brain slowly realised that the sheets beneath him were too soft and smooth; they were made of satin or silk and he owned neither. He sat bolt upright, suddenly awake, and looked around, realising that he was not in his bed or even his own bedroom. As he tried to get his sleepy mind to recall the night before, he also realised with a start that he was completely naked. He slipped out of bed, seeing his clothes folded neatly on a simple chair opposite the bed, and quickly got dressed. He padded barefoot down the hallway, following his nose as the smell of bacon got stronger and his stomach growled.

Leaning against the doorframe which lead into the kitchen, Pete watched silently as Carisha went about making breakfast. Dressed only in a faded t-shirt and black panties, her short hair was sleep ruffled and the bandages from the night before were gone. He could see partial cuts on her lower legs for a moment as she moved to one side of the large stove to check on a pan of poached eggs. He smiled as he watched her, an appreciative smirk of obvious interest as he looked her up and down. He unconsciously licked his upper lip as he admired well toned legs and a firm backside, a nicely curved pair of hips and a slender waist. His hands itched to run over her pale skin, knowing it would be smooth beneath his roughened fingers. His mind began to wander into an erotic fantasy as he imagined lifting her up onto the marble effect worktop and taking her right there and then.

"Oh hey, ready for some breakfast?" her question interrupted Buffer's fantasy musings and he looked up to see her looking at him, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Yeah, that'd be great," he confirmed, his face flushed. He slipped into the seat she indicated, pulling the chair closer to the table in an attempt to hide his rather obvious arousal. While his shorts were wonderfully comfortable, and smart enough for a night out at the pub, they left little to the imagination when he found himself aroused. She had turned back to the stove to start serving the breakfast she'd cooked, so he didn't see the smirk tugging at her lips; she'd seen exactly what was going on and was fighting to hide her own interest and arousal.

"You said last night that you missed a full English breakfast," she told him, as she skilfully deposited the contents of various pans and warming dishes onto the two plates. "So, I thought I'd rustle one up for you this morning."

"Err, thanks," he replied, trying to think how to tell her that he was drawing a blank about what had happened the night before.

"You don't remember last night much, do you?" she asked, placing a heaped plate of food in front of him. When he shook his head, looking more than a little embarrassed, she continued. "Eat up and I'll try to fill you in on what happened," she promised, giving him a gentle smile.

Buffer dug into the food with a hearty appetite, the rich tastes marred only slightly by a sense of unease at what he might discover he did, or didn't do, the previous night. Carisha settled onto her chair, folding her legs up easily and sitting cross legged as she started eating her own food. The nearness of her bare skin, coupled with a hint of her intimate scent from her sitting position, caused Buffer's passion to flare unexpectedly and he nearly choked as he swallowed a mouthful of food. He shifted his position, trying to put some distance between them, and ease the ache in his groin as his erection grew harder. Carisha seemed not to notice as she began to fill in the blanks for him.

"Well, do you recall coming here after the incident at Jester?" she asked, continuing when he nodded. "OK, well, we got back here and you offered to carry me inside, to keep the weight off my legs so there wouldn't be more damage." She took a sip of her orange juice and carried on.

"I asked you if you wanted to stay for coffee," she told him, tilting her head and smiling as she watched him. The flash of memory caught him by surprise and he instantly recalled that coffee had been the last thing on either of their minds once they got through the door.

_He carried her into the living room of her neat little house, lowering himself onto the couch and keeping her firmly in his arms. The moment her hands touched him, his blood felt as though it caught fire and his desire flared. One of her hands slipped behind his head as the other stroked his chest, teasing his nipple between thumb and forefinger as he moaned with pleasure. His lips captured her roughly, his need burning inside him as he shifted her on his lap, grasping her firm buttocks and pulling her closer. His hand snaked into her hair, as the other pressed against the small of her back, pulling her against him until she straddled him fully, her dress riding up around her hips as he felt her heat against his hard length._

"Things got a little...heated... for a while," she confirmed, guessing from his sudden flush that he was remembering the couch. "It was my fault we stopped before we could... go all the way," she coughed slightly, taking another sip of her drink as she felt her cheeks begin to burn.

"We didn't have sex," it was a statement, more than a question, but he had to hear the answer from her anyway.

"No, we didn't," she confirmed, her gaze downcast, afraid to look at him in case his desire had been alcohol fuelled.

"Shame," he murmured, so quietly she almost missed him say it. "So, how did I end up naked in your bed then?"

"As we were...disposing...of our clothes, my leg caught against the couch and ripped off one of the bandages," she took a deep breath, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to clamp down on her own desire. "It kinda dampened the mood a little. You asked if I wanted you to leave and I told you no. I said you were welcome to stay the night if you liked, especially as your friends had gone on to another bar and you had no cash to get a taxi."

"Yeah, I don't tend to carry a lot of cash on me," he confessed, finishing off the last of the food on his plate and eying hers with obvious interest. She laughed a light laugh and slipped out of her chair, moved to the stove and grabbed a large ceramic dish from the oven. Placing the covered dish on the table, she removed the lid and gestured for him to help himself to the bounty of bacon, sausages, hash browns and poached eggs she had been keeping warm in the lower oven. As he refilled his plate and replaced the lid on the warming dish, she continued.

"After we got the blood stopped, I made you a coffee and myself a cup of tea," she smiled at his snort of amusement to that statement. "You helped me down to my bedroom and we sat on the bed and talked, til the early hours when you eventually dropped off to sleep," she told him, watching him closely as snippets of memory came back to him.

"How much did I tell you?" he asked cautiously, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

"Everything," she replied, seeing the pain flash across his face at that one little word which, to him at least, meant he'd shown an unacceptable amount of weakness.


	5. Relaxing

_**Author's note**__: So the muse has kicked into high gear, making me try to finish some of my old stories :)_

_**Disclaimer**__: don't own anything except the original characters and the situations I throw them into :)_

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><p><strong>5. Relaxing<strong>

Pete sat quietly at the table, finishing off his food slowly as he tried to hide his shame from the woman sat beside him. From what she had said, it would appear he had told her about the nightmares, but had he told her about Kelly?

"Pete, you have nothing to be ashamed of," she told him, reaching out to gently place her fingers under his chin. He looked up at her, his eyes betraying his feelings as he tried to get his Buffer Mask" back into place.

"What did I tell you?" he whispered, his voice choked with emotion as he found he couldn't hide from this woman.

"You told me about the island, and the grave you were forced to dig for yourself," she replied, watching him carefully. "You told me about the tank where you drowned in oil, and the nightmares you've suffered from since."

"Oh," was all he could manage to say, his breath catching in his throat.

"You told me about Kelly, and how you accidentally hurt her," she continued slowly. "You told me about Kate and Nikki, about your mum and your time in Britain and how you missed your old crew," she finished, her hand softly rubbing his cheek.

"I..." he began, at a loss for words. It appeared he had shared his innermost thoughts with Carisha, a stranger, when he couldn't even share them with his closest friends.

"Like I said, you have nothing to be ashamed of, Pete," she assured him. "You have been through so much, and yet somehow you are still sane. That takes incredible strength," she told him, giving him a shy smile.

"Sane?" he snorted, his pragmatic humour breaking through his humiliation. "I don't feel sane, not at all."

"Well, you are," she laughed, glad he seemed to have shaken off his unnecessary shame. "After all, if you felt nothing about these things, then you'd be a psychopath."

"Glad I'm not but I'd rather not have gone through all this," he confessed, relaxing a little and tucking back into his food. The two ate in silence for a time, Pete's thoughts and feelings mixed about the strange turn of events. The fact that this attractive stranger knew his secrets scared him, but at the same time excited him. He felt as if he didn't have to hide with her; he could be himself, damaged as that may be, and she wouldn't judge him.

"I'm planning on heading down for a swim shortly, do you fancy joining me?" she asked, breaking the companionable silence that had fallen between them.

"I'd like that," he agreed, thinking that perhaps this shore leave was looking interesting, to say the least.

)()()()()()(

An hour later, Carisha and Pete were settling their things on the white sands of the beach. She slipped out of her dress to reveal a plain black swimsuit, cut high on the leg and revealing more scars on her hips. He began to wonder where the scars had come from, but didn't feel comfortable asking her about it just yet. He stripped off his shirt and grinned at her look of obvious interest, raising his eyebrows as he glanced towards the water. The area of the beach they had chosen, snug against the rocky headland, was deserted for the time being and Pete intended taking advantage of that fact. Throwing her a wink, he ran towards the crystal clear water, bounding a few steps before diving cleanly into the cool ocean. He surfaced some distance away from shore, turning to watch as she walked slowly into the water, her swaying hips making his erection grow harder. He stayed where he was, waiting for her to swim to him, before he joined her for a decent stretch, swimming towards the rocks that jutted out into the water. She matched him stroke for stroke, proving herself a strong swimmer and he found himself smirking in anticipation. She was proving herself to have a good amount of stamina, and that boded well for his plans for later in the day.

"You're a strong swimmer," she laughed, turning to face him as they stopped and began treading water.

"So are you," he smiled, taking deep breaths as he relaxed in the cool water. He found it strangely refreshing to be able to be himself, without having to be "Buffer" or to pretend that he wasn't struggling with past experiences.

"It's nice to just relax out here, forget about everything but the ocean and being a part of it," she confessed, her eyes sparkling with pleasure.

"You read my mind," he chuckled, feeling more relaxed than he had for several years.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. "And here I thought you were thinking about carrying on where we left off last night..."

"Well, yes, but not until we get back to shore," he told her honestly, his breathing quickening as she swam closer.

"Why wait?" she queried, slipping her arms around his neck.

"Why indeed," he agreed, pressing his lips to hers hungrily as he pulled her firmly against him. As his hands roamed her body, taking in each and every curve, it soon became obvious that getting to land was going to be necessary to continue their exploration of each other.

"OK, so that probably wasn't such a good idea," she coughed as they surfaced, still clinging to each other.

"Worth a try though," he laughed, using one hand against the base of her spine to press her against his hard length. He moaned softly as she moved against him, one hand caressing his chest as they floated together.

"How about we head over to the split in the rocks?" she suggested, moving her hand down to stroke his hardness through his shorts. "There's a hidden break that we can be alone in, with no prying eyes from the beaches..."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," he agreed breathlessly, wanting nothing more than to be on land so he could sink himself deep into the fascinating woman in his arms and revel in her intimate embrace.

"Race you," she called out, using powerful strokes to pull away from him and head to shore. With a snort of amusement, he swam after her, his years working out proving very useful as he caught up with her near shore.


End file.
